


in the light

by plantsareneat (theblindseeress)



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: 2019 christmas gift, F/M, Fall Vibes, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:00:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26183059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theblindseeress/pseuds/plantsareneat
Summary: “You would dream of me?” Byleth found herself saying, cheeks prickling with heat in the cool fall breeze.Dimitri’s laugh caught her off guard, and she looked at him as he turned back to her with that sad gaze, now tinged with something warm in them. The expression carried something of confusion, like she had said something that was completely obvious. “Of course I would, my friend.”
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 2
Kudos: 71





	in the light

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nauticaminus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nauticaminus/gifts).



> a christmas gift for my best friend [queenclover](https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenclover) last year!! i love u and im glad i could give you a pretty good gift :)
> 
> ###### ♪ in the light - the lumineers ♪

“It’s nice out today.”

It was quite nice out— at least for the autumn. It was no toasted summer day, but the sky was clear and the earth wasn’t soaked through. The warm afternoon sun looked on over the rolling hills that peeked through the evergreens, fallen leaves from the nearby deciduous forest tumbling across the scene. Everything showed the touches of winter coming in, the tones of reds and oranges and yellows slowly beginning to swallow up the green as the leaves held the paths captive and stuck in the branches of other trees. The wind was almost visible in the patterns it traced across the debris on the ground. All was peaceful, in the relatively quiet world.

Byleth sat with Dimitri at the desk. As Byleth was seeing it, they were sitting together. She figured that the way he saw it, Byleth was simply sitting next to him. She was gazing out of the window almost right in front of them, staring at the scenery with her blunt pen end pressed against her cheek thoughtfully. At her comment, Dimitri scoffed down at the paper that he was lazily reading. His head leaned heavily against his hand, fingers tangled up in his unwashed hair. Despite what talk he had these days, the bags under his eyes told her he was as sleepless as ever. Words on a page couldn’t keep up his heavy lids.

“The weather, professor?” He said, an eyebrow furrowed in near confusion. His eye didn’t quite leave the words on the page, although he wasn’t especially reading it. Byleth knew he was trying his best to pay attention to the paperwork as of late, but she didn’t feel like the two of them were going much of anywhere with it today.

“What? You don’t like the weather?” Byleth said. Sensibly, it was a silly thing to ask, yet she was asking it in earnest anyway. There was much Dimitri seemed to no longer like, and she was wondering quite honestly if weather patterns were going to be among them. Perhaps he didn’t like autumn, either.

Dimitri scoffed again, shuffling onto the next page in the set he was looking at. His fingers were absently trying to work out a knot they’d found in his hair as his eye began scanning the new words.

“What?” Byleth asked, her head tilting as she angled to get a look at Dimitri’s face. It wasn’t necessary, as Dimitri glanced over and then turned his head slightly.

He hesitated for a moment, looking confused. “You were serious?” He asked at last, sighing as he rose up from his heavy slouch and brushed his hair somewhat away from his face. It didn’t work very well. “Do we really have the time to make small talk about the weather, professor? I mean...” Dimitri gestured a bit helplessly at the papers.

“Hm.” Byleth considered this, her pen still against her face as she looked at Dimitri for a moment and then back outside. “I think that talking will make it less boring.”

“Right...” Dimitri said, holding his gaze on Byleth for a little longer before he abruptly turned back to the papers. He didn’t continue talking despite her suggestion for it.  
Byleth resumed hers as well, staring down at the page she was writing. She stared at it, blunt pen end still hard against her cheek, pushing dully into her teeth as she vacantly looked at the work. Staying inside was awful, she thought, why did people willingly commit to this nonsense? It was subtly driving her crazy. She had the vague itch to get back to doing anything outside, and she found herself once again staring out the window, looking into the trees and the hills and the sky beyond it all.

Travelling was hard work. Being a mercenary had been hard work— but it was comforting in its way. This ‘professor’ thing, she felt she was a good teacher, but had it been for anything other than battle she would have torn all her hair out. Now all the worst parts of teaching were bleeding over into this new world she’d had to enter, full of useless papers and silly political and noble debacles gone horribly awry and awful. Again, she wondered, why did people place themselves into these positions? How could people stand to be forced into this?

She looked over at Dimitri, who had seemingly reread the same page several times now, as it had been several minutes and the brief paragraphs on there likely wouldn’t give him much trouble. Unless that eyepatch of his took all his reading ability away, which she doubted was the case. You could never be too sure. Drenching himself in the same nonsense she was tired of was surely going to be draining for him. It wasn’t like he gave himself much of a choice, nor did the world, really. Considering all that was on his mind all the time, it was amazing he’d been able to work so hard on being a full leader, paperwork and all. Byleth knew he felt a commitment to performing this duty now, but...

“Let’s go for a walk.”

Dimitri sighed, closing his eye. “A walk? I—”

“You’re getting nowhere fast.” Byleth said plainly. Dimitri sighed again, sitting back in his chair as he held his tired gaze at her. She looked simply and pointedly back. “You could use the exercise.”

“Alright…” He sighed, leaning his head back a bit. “Alright, so I am not. That much is true.” He languidly rubbed his hands over his face. “Where do you want to walk to?”

Byleth shrugged. His eye was still closed, so she followed it up with, “Anywhere else, I think.”

He gave a short, dry laugh, absent of any actual humour. Byleth found he didn’t have much of that, anymore. It improved all the time, though. His hands fully fell away from his face, and he looked over at her. “Alright then.” Dimitri rose, shuffling his papers into a vague order, though he didn’t seem to know or care what that order was at the moment. 

Within a few short minutes the two of them were heading out, walking down the corridors and out into the relatively mild day. Dimitri still had his cloak hung tightly around him, bundled like it was the winter time. She wondered if he did it for comfort, or maybe because he was actually so cold all of the time. It was a terribly large and heavy thing to hold around his shoulders all the time— well, she was sure it wasn’t that heavy for him. It would be cozy, but Byleth would hate to have it on all of the time. She didn’t ask him any of this, nor share her thoughts as they walked.

The walk was all but silent. Leaves comfortably crunched under their feet, sounding dry and crisp as they tumbled by and found their way underfoot. The wind was lighter than it looked from the leaves it spun nearby, and Byleth was pleased her hair wasn’t blown in her face. The two of them continued silently among the trees, following a path without much regard for it. Dimitri looked very much like he wanted to say something to her, but he didn’t seem to have the right opportunity to do so— at least, the pervasiveness of the silence stopped him.

Byleth felt a vague sense of worry he wasn’t going to start speaking, and opted to be the one to break the silence. Usually he would have said something, so she presumed it had something to do with his distinct exhaustion. That was fine, she could help.

“I did think it was going to be nice out,” Byleth said. “It’s nice to not be stuck at a desk.”

“Mmh,” Dimitri said. “I honestly don’t think I could have read another word if I tried. It all blends together eventually. Sometimes I think it would be nice to have someone to send a fill-in forum with the letters they send, if they seriously expect me to be able to respond to it all.”

“Heh,” Byleth smiled slightly as he said it, looking over his way. Even though the smile was brief, he caught sight of it, and a tinge of pink came to his cheeks. “It would be nice. Who would take the time to write it out, I wonder?”

“The same person who sends out a twenty page letter, I assume.” He had a slight smile on his face too, and he looked back ahead. 

Byleth was looking at his face, not paying attention to the path. She stumbled slightly on a root, which merely shook her out of her gaze and back to looking ahead. Dimitri offered a short, surprised hint of a chuckle.

“I never thought I would need to tell you to look ahead, professor.” He said, some amusement in his voice. A little heat rose to her cheeks, though not in any kind of embarrassment. “I suppose it’s the woods, though, so there is plenty to trip on on the path.”

“You can’t see much under the leaf cover,” She said. “Maybe if the path was walked more, we could see more roots.”

“Are you just saying that to convince me to walk more?” Dimitri said. “Shouldn’t we already be getting back?”

“Maybe so.” Byleth said thoughtfully. “You shouldn’t be holed up in that building, though. It’ll drive you mad.”

“I think I do that fine without the building’s help.” He glanced over at Byleth, who was simply looking at him with a blank face. “You don’t have to worry about it.”

Byleth’s eyebrows pressed down, and she moved closer to him. “You say things like that, but I just wonder… I think you press yourself too hard.”

Dimitri furrowed his eyebrows. Somehow, it accentuated those deep bags under his eyes, the dusty splotches of grey-purple that told Byleth all she really needed to know. “It’s easier to throw myself into it, is all.” He looked away. “It really isn’t much of a problem. I have a handle on things.”

Byleth didn’t insist more, only folded her arms thoughtfully and continued walking. The two continued in silence for a long while, and Byleth eventually looped them back around so that the great stone building was within their sights soon enough. The sky was the same placid blue it had been on the entire walk, the wind still just as mild. As she looked up at the sky, she hardly noticed the whisper of a smile back onto her lips. She did, however, see Dimitri out of the corner of her eye, looking at her. Byleth turned to look at him.

“What is it?” She said plainly. His face was pink again— was he really chilly? She couldn’t imagine why else his face, which seemed still so relatively pallid and reserved, would maintain the colour. Perhaps he was overheating under that massive cloak of his, that could be it.

He cleared his throat and looked away. “This was nice.”

“Ah,” Byleth said knowingly. “You do like weather.”

“Weather.” He said simply. “Right.”

***

The days that followed the calm walk were anything but. There was much to do— always so much for them all to do. Training, fighting, exploring, and so many more exhausting and boring chores that left everyone in a perpetual state of exhaustion. Byleth ran about, trying to help as many of her former students as possible to reduce their workloads. Since they were working so hard, she thought, it was only right of her to ease their burdens. What else were teachers for, anyway? She could think of at least five other things, but that was beside the point.

Many of the others spoke to her, in hushed tones and under breaths, of Dimitri’s current state. She only saw him in passing across rooms for the next couple of weeks, and relied on the second-hand information to know how he was doing, since she could never find herself in the same space as him. They were all the same, in essence— Dimitri was tired.

One morning whenever she woke up, extra bright and early, she felt a surge of inspiration to find him. Byleth worried for him. To herself, she could admit it was a bit of favouritism on her part. She knew far too much about him to be able to sit back and watch him decline again, even if he believed he was working hard for the right reasons. He shut himself in his work, and didn’t get anything out beyond that. If he was hiding away, then he was likely not speaking to anyone, and if he had no real means beyond fighting to express his emotions and thoughts then he could easily be in trouble. Dimitri was holding fast to his ideals, but a man like him was obsessive and needed the guidance where he could get it.

The earliest part of the morning was spent seeking him out. It wasn’t too hard, in the end, as she walked into the training grounds. It was early, and the open space held only one man. Clad in his armour, brittle training weapons a mess nearby, moving sleek and graceful and with horrible power against a training post. Dimitri had put deep scores into the material and continued to relentlessly do so. As far as the students went, Byleth thought he needed to be here the least.

“Dimitri,” She called over to him. He paid no mind, or at least, appeared to be ignoring her. She heard the crackle of the weak weapon in his hand as he struck too hard, gripped it too tight. It was miraculous how few weapons were broken these days from the way he trained. She moved closer to him, watching the blank, tired look she caught glimpses of. He hadn’t even noticed she was there.

Byleth sighed, more than a little exasperated as she walked up next to him. “Dimitri,” She said again as she approached, and at last he heard her. Her voice surprised him and shook him out of whatever state of mind he’d been in, resulting him in overshooting his swing and lurching forward, the tip of his spear burying into the dirt of the ground. He straightened himself up, turning towards her.

“Professor,” He said breathlessly, grimy hair plastered over his face that he tried to slide away. Everything was sticky with sweat. The bags under his eyes were dark, excruciatingly so. Byleth could almost feel the empathetic ache of sleep in her skull just looking at them.

“Have you been sleeping?” She asked bluntly. Dimitri was surprised by this, pulling the awkwardly angled spear out of the ground and using it to lean on while she asked the question.

“Yes.” He said resolutely, barely meeting her gaze.

“Well?” She insisted.

Dimitri stared at her for a long moment, and she looked back at him. Sometimes she couldn’t quite tell what he was thinking— his expressions were more than easy to read, but she could never fully pinpoint his logic. She wondered if he could himself. “No,” He admitted quietly.

Byleth gave him a bit of a look, and from his guarded but guilty expression, she supposed it must have looked a bit like pity. He crossed his arms and looked away from her, frowning as he tried to come up with something more to say. Byleth spared him the agony. “Go get cleaned up,” She suggested. “We can go on a walk.”

“A walk,” He said, glancing over at her. Byleth nodded, and Dimitri seemed to relax a bit as he thought about the suggestion. He nodded quietly back at her, then dragged himself away, still wiping the hair from his face.

Byleth waited there for him, somewhat cleaning up the dingy weapons. Then, she investigated the training post, running her fingers over the clean, powerful swipes through it.

She didn’t know how long she stood there looking at it, but Dimitri returned, looking at the very least tidied. Byleth looked at his face as he approached, studied it as he looked quite glumly at the training post. His expression cleared as he looked towards her.

She raised a hand up to pat against his face, looking thoughtful. Dimitri’s cheek felt warm under her touch as the two of them looked at each other wordlessly. Then, Byleth rubbed a strand of his hair between her fingers, and Dimitri’s look turned embarrassed as he brushed her hand away from his face.

“You need a proper bath,” She chided.

“Yes,” Dimitri said. “I’m afraid I have been rather busy.”

“That is what I’ve heard.” Byleth said, still looking over him with her blank stare. Dimitri furrowed his brows, but before he could say more, Byleth hooked her arm around his and started him out of the training grounds. He made a small sound, but followed without resuming the questions that had been on his lips.

She led the two of them back to the woods from before, leaves still crisp and fresh from the steady fall of the season. The trees were becoming barer exponentially— she was certain in two weeks, they would be nothing more than an army of skeletons stationed outside. They were hooked arm in arm, with Byleth looking straight ahead and Dimitri’s eyes often looking at her. She had noticed this, since when she looked at him, they always seemed to meet eyes. The walk continued without any words passing between them.

Byleth went off the path, still securely holding onto him. He was looking so worn out, she felt if she let go, he could collapse. He didn’t feel that way— his arm held hers back as strong as ever, and his walk was confident as he could make it. Even the look on his face, so prone to falling grim and serious, kept being maintained at a steady mild. The longer they walked, the more his frown came out.

“It’s nice out,” Byleth said.

Dimitri sighed a little. “The weather?”

“I thought you liked it.” She responded.

“I really could care less about it.” He said plainly, shrugging.  
Silence, then. The walk continued on 

“Are you having nightmares?” Byleth asked suddenly, frankly.

Dimitri hesitated. He didn’t seem to be surprised by the question. “Yes,” He said. Silence came between them as Byleth did not answer, simply allowed him the space to continue— and he did. “Of course, the nightmares have never really stopped. The hauntings of the way of the world stick with my subconscious mind in a terribly familiar way. I could scarcely remember a night without them.”

“What changed?” Byleth said softly, looking over at him. She wanted very much to ask what else stuck with him, if the nightmares had never gone. Did he still see those of the past around every corner? She never saw him speaking to them anymore, but that didn’t hold much weight. Dimitri was staring forward, vacantly into the woods.

“No longer have I been dreaming of what I have lost every night,” He said, voice low as he frowned out into the distance. “Those still remain, of course, but they aren’t the most frequent. Now, it’s what I could lose.” At this, he looked directly at Byleth, eyebrows bunching up in a concern, eyes sorrowful. He tightened his hold on her arm as his cheeks flushed and he looked back to the trees.

“You would dream of me?” Byleth found herself saying, cheeks prickling with heat in the cool fall breeze.

Dimitri’s laugh caught her off guard, and she looked at him as he turned back to her with that sad gaze, now tinged with something warm in them. The expression carried something of confusion, like she had said something that was completely obvious. “Of course I would, my friend.”

Byleth felt the warm smile come to her face, and Dimitri met it, the two of them slowing to a stop. As earlier, Byleth reached her hand up to rest against his face, and he leaned his cheek gently against the touch. He placed his hand atop it, his smile small but still present. Byleth’s face was blank, all but for that smile of her own, which seemed to tell Dimitri all he needed.

“I’m sorry to have worried you,” He said quietly.

“You worry me by being,” Byleth said thoughtfully, and Dimitri snorted.

“Yes, that is the way it often goes, isn’t it…?” He dropped his hand, and Byleth followed suit, once again hooking her arm around his and continuing their divergence into the forest.

“If you need help,” Byleth said after a couple minutes of walking. “You know that I will.”

“You have enough on your plate.” Dimitri responded, perhaps a bit quickly.

“Like you don’t?” She countered. He fell silent for a moment.

“It is my responsibility, professor.”

Byleth wasn’t sure she wanted to chase this line of reasoning. More than likely, he would be stubborn about what it is he was *supposed* to be doing. She would find some other way to take some of the workload off of him. “You ought to call me my name by now.”

“Oh,” He said. He hadn’t been expecting the sudden change of topic. “I suppose I should, shouldn’t I? There’s just a familiarity to it.”

“Things may only become familiar if you start doing them.” Byleth said.

“How wise,” Dimitri said, a little bemused. He found himself looking up through the trees, frowning at what sky he saw. The coolness of the morning was beginning to wear off. “Perhaps we should be going back.”

“Yes,” Byleth said, looking around. “Except… I don’t see the path.”

“You don’t see the path.” Dimitri echoed, also looking around. “Ah… are we lost?”

“We cannot be lost.” Byleth said firmly. “The forest is small.”

“The forest is also dense,” Dimitri said, still looking around for the pathway. “Maybe we should go directly back the way we came. Did we turn at all?”

“I can’t recall,” Byleth said. “Let’s pick a direction and walk.”

“That…”

“It will work,” Byleth interrupted. “Just eventually.”

“Right,” He said, casting her a look. “You do have a point. Lead the way, then.”

“Why don’t you?” She looked up at him. He blinked back, then looked forward.

“Uh… this way, then.” He muttered, turning them in the direction opposite of where they had just been going. It didn’t take too long for them to find the path again, after all, and soon the two of them were heading back. They walked in relative silence for just a while.

“You should take the day off.” Byleth said.

“The day off?” He said sharply. “No.”

“No?” Byleth challenged, turning her dead serious look on him. His face had been scrunched into an irritated anger, but the look immediately smoothed it out. 

“There’s too much to do,” He protested.

“If you pass out from exhaustion, then even less will be done.” She said resolutely. Dimitri had little else to respond to with that, and looked forward. They were exiting the forest, now, the rest of the area coming back into view. People had started milling around, now that the morning had fully begun. The quiet bustle made Dimitri look a bit irritated, his sleeplessness still plain on his face. Byleth patted his arm. “Come on, we can get you a bath.”

“We?” Dimitri said, but was ignored as Byleth pulled him through the general collection of people, right back into the building. It wasn’t long before the two of them had gathered supplies for it, and Byleth ushered him into the bathing room. He looked at her with a very specific kind of tired resentment, and Byleth looked back with a flat look. She handed him the soaps.

“Do you need help?” She asked.

“What?” He responded, face flushing. “I’m a grown man.”

“That doesn’t mean much.” Byleth said, reaching up and rustling his hair. “Your hair never looks clean.”

Dimitri returned the comment with an embarrassed look, trying to brush her hand away again. “I believe I can manage, thank you.”

Byleth nodded, then looked at him thoughtfully. “Come to my room whenever you’ve finished.”

His eyes flitted around to the sides for a second, looking back at her with that mildly embarrassed, shy look. “Um… alright.”

She nodded again, and promptly left him to it. She walked slowly to her room, arms crossed as she did so. Byleth was stopped by a couple of people along the way for this or that, but her mind was occupied by what he had said in the forest. Nightmares of what he could lose— she felt something stir in her chest at remembering his earnest expression from her question. She felt close to Dimitri, and it was pleasant to know he felt the same. It wasn’t so pleasant to know he was having some terrible dream regarding it.

Was there a way to help his nightmares? She wasn’t quite certain of that. She stood outside her room, lost in thought before she came to and went inside. Byleth sat on her bed, simply staring at the ground as she thought it over. There was no earthly way to get him relaxed around here, with everything pushing in on them at all times. At least, not enough to stop any persistent terrors in dreams. Even if she could reassure him it would be fine, she knew well the reality of the situation and the ghosts of his past. No assurance was good enough.

She found herself eventually laying on her bed, the lull of sleep from waking up early coming back to get to her. Byleth had entered a light dozing state when the hard knock came on the door. She rose, going over to the door and opening it, seeing a rather antsy Dimitri waiting there for her. He was looking behind his shoulder as she opened the door, then immediately snapped back to attention to pretend he hadn’t been.

He looked a little less tired, now that he seemed actually cleaner. His hair was damp, but she could smell the strong scent of the herbs and perfumes from where she stood. His eyelids still drooped, and the shades under his eyes continued to look back at her. 

“Hello,” He said, looking at her with a little bit of apprehension. “Why did you want to meet over here?”

Byleth was looking up at him thoughtfully, and he stared at her, looking like he was trying to solve some kind of puzzle. She took his hand, pulling him gently into the room. He accepted this, despite the plain look of confusion on his face. She closed the door behind him, and then motioned over to her bed. He looked at it, then at her, the bed, then back to her. He went over to it and sat on it, staring at her. Byleth looked at him expectantly.

“I have a bed,” He said, face flushing. “In my own room.”

“A bed you haven’t slept well in.” Byleth said. “I thought perhaps you have spent too much time in it.”

“I…” He stared at her, trying to follow her logic. “This isn’t a bit intrusive?”

“I invited you in here.” She said.

“So you did.” He still looked discomforted. “I’m not sure this is necessary.”

“Dimitri,” She frowned. “Just lay down. You need the rest.”

He frowned back, hesitantly moving and laying down onto the bed. Dimitri still looked over at her, looking fairly uncomfortable about it all. Byleth walked over, throwing the covers over him and putting her hands on her hips. Then, she nodded, and walked over to her desk. She could feel him still staring at her, but she resolutely kept her eyes to the work she shuffled out as she sat down. He sighed, and she heard him restlessly adjust in the bed.

It wasn’t long before he’d fallen asleep— a few minutes at most. She glimpsed over her shoulder, content to see that he was still and breathing evenly. Byleth spent a moment studying the slow relaxation on his features, a peacefulness to him that so often was hidden. She thought, in passing, he looked kinder.

She spent the morning doing what work she could, quietly scratching up reply letters and looking over documents from others she said she’d review. Byleth didn’t consider editing to be her strong suit by any means, but they seemed to appreciate her blunt feedback at the least. She was working away at it when noises stirred from the bed. A frown came to her face, concern that he’d only slept a couple hours immediately making her turn around.

Dimitri’s peaceful face had vanished, his face twitching into looks of pain and misery. The noises she had heard were partial words, muttered out from tired lips. He shifted suddenly in the bed, restlessly, his breath shaking. Byleth found herself getting to her feet without thinking, moving closer to him as his quiet mumblings became slightly louder. He moved again, laying on his back. She could see a sheen of sweat starting to appear on his forehead, his hands gripping at the sheet under his fingers.

“Byleth,” He murmured almost inaudibly, eyes still closed, face an aching echo of sadness. She felt her heart twist up just the same, and she sat on the bed, her hand moving over his. She rubbed her thumb over his knuckles, feeling some of the tension in them ebb away.

“I’m here,” She said softly, quietly, moving her hand up to hold his face. 

Even in his sleeping state, his head turned to press against it, his warm and clammy cheek putting its full weight against her cool fingers. Dimitri’s breath was still shuddering, and it wasn’t long before he suddenly turned the other way, restlessly adjusting again, mumbling. Byleth frowned and found herself suddenly compelled to try and comfort him even further.

She laid down alongside him, weaving her arm under his so that she could hold his chest, burying her face against his neck and sighing. His body relaxed under the comfort, breath starting to shift once again. Even though he moved around somewhat, it wasn’t as dramatic as before, and he mostly seemed to settle into her arms. After a long while, Byleth felt once more the exhaustion of the morning coming back to her. She drifted for a while, contemplating on the perfumes left in his clean hair, before finally falling asleep herself.

***

When Byleth awoke, she first realised that the two of them had turned, and Dimitri’s arms were wrapped around her in an immensely all-encompassing way. His face was buried into her hair, the muffled flow of his breath providing a sensation not unpleasant. He seemed to her to be quite peaceful, and still quite asleep. She squinted out what window she could see, trying to evaluate the time. It seemed to be evening.

She resigned herself to her fate, closing her eyes again and simply resting in his arms. Some amount of time passed, though she did not feel acutely aware of it. Dimitri’s breathing roused out of its steady rhythm, beginning with a sharp inhale and an extended period of held breath. He let it out slowly, loosening his hold on her. As soon as she was able to, Byleth sat up, which seemed to surprise him even more. She stretched her arms above her head, yawning slowly before she looked back to him.

His face was confused and deeply red, looking at her for a moment before he cleared his throat, sitting himself up a bit more. His face seemed, at least, very rested. The bags under his eyes were still dark, but nowhere close to the hollow look he had been carrying for weeks.

“Good morning,” She said. This prompted Dimitri to look outside, then back at her with a slightly bemused look.

“Good evening.”

“How did you sleep?” Byleth asked, tilting her head.

“...Well.” He said, after a moment of thought. His eyes looked off into the distance, but eventually flickered back over to her. “Yes… I slept well. Thank you.” He scooted to the edge of the bed, swinging his legs off. Dimitri looked at his hands in his lap for a very long, wordless moment, simply sitting there and waking up.


End file.
